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The Commemorative Quarter for California





Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Alameda (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Alameda. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

A Few Details for Alameda ...

While it's still very early in our research, we found that:

  • Alameda was established in 1853.
  • It was incorporated on April 19, 1854.

Neighboring Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Alameda is located in Alameda County.

To see how the shape of California's counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Alameda County: Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara & Stanislaus.

Below are the counties that are near Alameda. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Alameda:

  • Alameda County     (The home county of Alameda)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alameda, with the one closest to Alameda listed first.
    • East Oakland ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Fruitvale
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Brooklyn ‑ Historic
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Brooklyn. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brooklyn
      • Brooklyn is located in Alameda County
      • Former names for Brooklyn:
      • Antonio
      • Clinton
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Brooklyn
      • From Alameda to Brooklyn
    • Allendale
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Havenscourt
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Laurel
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Oakland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Brookfield Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield Village
      • Brookfield Village is located in Alameda County
    • Piedmont
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Montclair
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Campbell Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell Village
      • Campbell Village is located in Alameda County
    • West Oakland
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Contra Costa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alameda, with the one closest to Alameda listed first.
    • Moraga
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Orinda Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orinda Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orinda Village
      • Orinda Village is located in Contra Costa County
    • Orinda
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Kensington
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Lafayette
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • El Cerrito
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Alamo
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Easter Hill Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Easter Hill Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Easter Hill Village
      • Easter Hill Village is located in Contra Costa County
    • Nystrom Village
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nystrom Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nystrom Village
      • Nystrom Village is located in Contra Costa County
    • Danville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • East Richmond Heights
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Richmond Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Richmond Heights
      • East Richmond Heights is located in Contra Costa County
    • Atchison Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Atchison Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atchison Village
      • Atchison Village is located in Contra Costa County
  • Marin County
  • Napa County
  • San Francisco County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alameda, with the one closest to Alameda listed first.
    • Chinatown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • San Francisco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Sydney Town ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sydney Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sydney Town
      • Sydney Town is located in San Francisco County
    • Amanico Ergina Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Amanico Ergina Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amanico Ergina Village
      • Amanico Ergina Village is located in San Francisco County
    • Friendship Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friendship Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship Village
      • Friendship Village is located in San Francisco County
    • Golden Gate Heights
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Doelger City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doelger City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doelger City
      • Doelger City is located in San Francisco County
    • Stonestown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • San Mateo County
  • Santa Clara County
  • Solano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Alameda, with the one closest to Alameda listed first.
    • Benicia
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Mare Island ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Mare Island. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mare Island
      • Mare Island is located in Solano County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Mare Island
      • From Alameda to Mare Island
    • Vallejo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Guadalcanal Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guadalcanal Village have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guadalcanal Village
      • Guadalcanal Village is located in Solano County
  • Sonoma County
    • Sears Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sears Point. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sears Point
      • Sears Point is located in Sonoma County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sears Point
      • From Alameda to Sears Point

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Alameda, see our County-by-County Page for Alameda.

Cemeteries Near Alameda ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Alameda.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Alameda covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Alameda, with the one closest to Alameda listed first.

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Alameda had a population of 11,165 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Alameda had a population of 78,841 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Alameda, with the one closest to Alameda listed first.

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Alameda. See our List of 1890's Communities around Alameda.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Alameda ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 266 newspapers that have been published in the area around Alameda.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Alameda. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Alameda and those printed in the larger area surrounding Alameda.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 13 miles [20.9 km]<6> of Alameda.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Alameda:

The official website for Alameda: www.ci.alameda.ca.us/

The official website for Alameda County: www.acgov.org/

The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<4>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<5>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Alameda, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Alameda) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Alameda. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.7642, Longitude: -122.2428    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025